An original story for BBC Radio 4

The Deathwatch Journal

A gripping original story for BBC Radio 4 by award-winning crime writer Ian Rankin

A gripping original story for BBC Radio 4 by award-winning crime writer Ian Rankin, written for the landmark Radio 4 Book at Bedtime slot 
 
Saughton Prison, Edinburgh. 1962. 
 
Prison guard Thomas Scott watches over a condemned man sentenced to hang for the murder of his wife. 
 
His prisoner is a guilty man, that’s for sure. William Telfer has done enough bad things in his life. And Scott has been in his job long enough to know that guilty men often proclaimed their innocence right up until the moment the noose was placed around their necks. But as they wait out the days until his execution, Scott begins to suspect that Telfer is innocent of this murder. 
 
An innocent man could be hanged by the neck until dead. And his jailer doesn’t know what to do about it… 
 
To find out the truth, Scott must explore Edinburgh’s darkest corners. And he is running out of time. 
 
From the best-selling author of the Rebus novels, this original story asks what you would do in the face of doubt, and in the search for justice. 
 
(This release contains additional material not included in the radio broadcast, plus an extended postscript.)

A BBC Radio Collection

Cully & more

Alexander Morton stars as the roguish detective Mr Cullender in two original radio dramas by Ian Rankin, and as Inspector Rebus in Let it Bleed – plus a selection of original stories 
 
Best known for his Inspector Rebus novels, Sir Ian Rankin is one of Britain’s most successful and acclaimed crime writers. He has won numerous awards, including the CWA Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, and in 2023 he received a knighthood for services to literature and charity. 
 
He has also written extensively for BBC Radio, including two feature-length, full-cast period dramas set in Edinburgh in the 1790s, introducing the resourceful if low-born Mr Cullender (‘Cully’) – caddie, manservant and general dogsbody. This collection opens with those stories, in which the enterprising detective, played by Alexander Morton, goes in search of a double murderer (The Serpent’s Back) and investigates a series of ritualistic wine-cellar killings (The Third Gentleman). 
 
Next, Let it Bleed sees Morton starring as Detective Inspector John Rebus in the very first BBC Radio Rebus adaptation, in which the maverick cop probes political corruption and insider dealing – and uncovers the dark underbelly of 1990s Scotland. Among the supporting cast are James Bryce as DI Flower, Sarah Collier as DCI Gill Templer and Crawford Logan as Chief Superintendent Watson. 
 
Specially written for Radio 4, the gripping crime serial The Deathwatch Journal, read by Jimmy Chisholm, takes place inside an Edinburgh prison in 1962, where jailer Thomas Scott is watching over a condemned man sentenced to hang for the murder of his wife. But as they wait out the days until his execution, Scott begins to suspect that Telfer is innocent… 
 
Also included are eight of Ian Rankin’s short stories – some original tales commissioned for radio, others recorded from his collection Beggars Banquet: ‘The Only True Comedian’ (read by Steven McNicoll), ‘The Confession’ (read by Alec Heggie), ‘Unlucky in Love, Unlucky at Cards’ (read by Billy Riddoch), ‘A Deep Hole’ (read by Steven McNicoll), ‘Step Right Up’ (read by Dominic Cooper), ‘Facing the Music’ (read by James MacPherson), ‘Herbert in Motion’ (read by James Bryce) and ‘The Hanged Man’ (read by Steven McNicoll). Ranging from the comic to the macabre, they feature hit men, con men, comedians, a private eye, a road digger, an art curator, a serial killer – and Edinburgh’s very own John Rebus. 
 
 
Contents 
 
The Serpent’s Back 
The Third Gentleman 
Let it Bleed 
The Deathwatch Journal 
‘The Only True Comedian’ 
‘The Confession’ 
‘Unlucky at Love, Unlucky at Cards’ 
‘A Deep Hole’ 
‘Step Right Up’ 
‘Facing the Music’ 
‘Herbert in Motion’ 
‘The Hanged Man’ 
 
Copyright © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ian Rankin

Ron Donachie

Gayanne Potter

Full Cast

Eight Full-Cast BBC Radio 4 Dramatisations

Eight full-cast dramatisations starring Ron Donachie as Ian Rankin’s legendary detective 
 
John Rebus is Edinburgh’s most famous fictional detective – a hard-drinking, music-loving maverick with a defiant disregard for authority and a stubborn determination to get to the truth. Alongside his loyal colleague and friend Siobhan Clarke, he traverses Scotland’s dark and dangerous underworld investigating violent crimes – many of them involving his sparring partner and nemesis, notorious gangster Ger Cafferty. 
 
These eight thrilling dramas find him tackling suspicious deaths, serial killers and stone-cold cases. In Strip Jack, he probes the disappearance of an MP’s wife and the discovery of two dead bodies; while The Black Book sees him delving into an unsolved murder – with the help of a notebook full of coded clues. Black and Blue finds him travelling from Edinburgh to Glasgow and then Aberdeen as he pursues the psychopathic copycat behind the ‘Johnny Bible’ killings. Meanwhile, in Set in Darkness, the dour DI follows a trail of corpses found during construction at the new Scottish Parliament. 
 
A wealthy banker’s daughter goes missing in The Falls, and the only leads are a series of carved wooden dolls inside miniature coffins and a cryptic online role-playing game. In Resurrection Men, as an investigation into the murder of an Edinburgh art dealer begins, Rebus is ordered to undergo ‘retraining’ – and carries out a secret undercover mission of his own. A Question of Blood sees him enquiring into a school shooting, only to find himself the main suspect in a house fire. And in Fleshmarket Close, Rebus’ skills are put to the test when the teenage sister of a rape victim vanishes, two skeletons are found in a pub cellar and an illegal immigrant is murdered on a city housing estate. 
 
Ron Donachie stars as Rebus, with Gayanne Potter as Siobhan Clarke, Gary Lewis and Sandy Neilson as Cafferty and a supporting cast including Liam Brennan, Steven McNicoll, Iain Robertson, Brian Ferguson, Sarah Collier, Paul Young and Kenny Blyth. 
 
Text copyright © Ian Rankin 1992 (Strip Jack), 1993 (The Black Book), 1995 (Black and Blue), 2000 (Set in Darkness), 2001 (The Falls, Resurrection Men), 2003 (A Question of Blood), 2004 (Fleshmarket Close) 
 
Written by Ian Rankin 
Dramatised by Chris Dolan and Bert Coules 
Produced and directed by Bruce Young 
 
Contents: 
Strip Jack 
The Black Book 
Black and Blue 
Set in Darkness 
The Falls 
Resurrection Men 
A Question of Blood 
Fleshmarket Close 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Rebus

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